"The Violin has been replaced by cello virtuoso Elias Kahila. Kahila´s own "cello rock" show remains as a his number one project. Kahila is operating with Silentium atleast on the forthcoming album and on the 2005 gigs".

Source:	silentivm.com
Band profile:	Silentium

A live video from "Miron & Cole" was posted online on the band website.
The video was filmed live at Markens Cafè, Kristiansand in October 2004.

http://www.greencarnation.no/video.htm

Also, Green Carnation celebrates their 15th anniversary in 2005.
Here is Kenneth's statement:
"In addition to touring and promoting the new full album "The Quiet Offspring", the band wants to something spesial for the fans. "We have already discussed different ideas and hopefully we will be able to go through with them in between touring and other activities. It's a nice opportunity to do something spesial and different, and it's going to be a nice surprice. But first we need to focuse on the release of the new album".

Band profile:

Green Carnation

"The seventh SuidAkrA album "Command To Charge" has been completed! Our sound engineer Martin has done a fantastic job in the Gernhart Studio, and the finishing touches were added at the Monoposto Mastering Studio (Die Toten Hosen, Scorpions, Tito & Tarantula etc).

We are extremely pleased with the finished album, and we're sure you will be more than satisfied!

There will be 12 tracks on the new record, with a total playing time of 47 minutes, which makes it the longest SuidAkrA album yet! A variety of bonus material is also in the works...
During the next few weeks, we will dedicate our time to creating some great artwork for the CD, as well as a new website layout. In addition, a video clip will be shot for one of the new album tracks!

We also have some exciting concert news: in February we will play at the Atarfe Vega Rock Festival (Megadeth, Therion, Haggard etc), which will be our first ever gig in Spain -Olé! After that, the Winternachsttraum Festival follows, with SuidAkrA co-headlining right before Rage! Additionally, to confirm our first summer 2005 festival appearance, we will be playing at the Summer Breeze in Germany!!"

http://www.suidakra.com/english/

From the website of the band:

"The new album will be out March through our new label Grau. The name of the album will be "A Murderous Circus" and will feature five new songs
The Apocalypse Machine
Elemental Nausea
The Crashing Wave
Nothing (The March of Death)
?yet Everything

and is 75 minutes of music.

We recorded two other songs while in Studio E, a re-recording of Part 1 and a new song as yet unnamed and these will appear on a limited edition digipack at the same time as the album, pre-orders will be accepted from Grau. Also on the digipack there will be a full gig from our tour in April with While Heaven Wept and Thee Plague of Gentlemen. The album artwork is now complete and suits the moods of the music perfectly.
The new album contains all the trademarks of earlier MB releases but also some newer sounds and if you like Part 1 you will love the new stuff, it has a very vicious and forceful edge to it while other parts are some of the softest and most melancholic we have every written. It is an album of extremes, lyrically, vocally and musically and it weaves patterns of darkness and despair but with a lot more diversification in the songs than on our previous albums".

http://www.mourningbeloveth.com/

Band profile:

Mourning Beloveth

"Green Carnation Completes 4th studio album titled: "The Quiet Offspring":
On September 15th, the band finished recording its 4th full length album, scheduled to be released through Season of Mist in February 2005.
The band is very excited about the new material and looking forward to hearing the mastered tapes when they arrive in a couple of days. More info about the album will be released soon".

Also, the cover of the forthcoming album was posted online on the website of the band.

http://www.green-carnation.tk/

Band profile:

Green Carnation

The European tour starts in the end of march and will include Germany, Italy, Slovakia, Switcherland, Holland, Austria, Poland, Belgium, Hungary, Kroatia... and maybe more.
Also, To/Die/For's 4th album is already licenced in Japan.

http://www.todieforlove.cjb.net/

Band profile:

To/Die/For

"Novembers Doom have recently parted ways with bass player Mike LeGros. Mike played bass with the band for the past 2 years, and contributed to the recording of the upcoming CD, "The Pale Haunt Departure." It was brought to our attention that he was not comfortable in the band, due to creative differences, and the dedication to his instrument we require suffered because of this. Very simply, it was time for a change, on both sides. Mike is an amazing person, and we are forever grateful for everything he did for Novembers Doom during his time with us. We wish him nothing but the best with Disinter, Nachtmystium, and any other project he aligns himself with!

We are in the process of filling the vacant Bass position, and this will not hinder us from touring, and promoting "The Pale Haunt Departure" in 2005. Any interested parties should email: info@novembersdoom.com"

Source:	novembersdoom.com
Band profile:	Novembers Doom

From the webpage of the Polish progressive rock/metal band:

"After the successful performance at the European edition of ProgPower, now has come a time to pay a visit overseas. We have been invited to take part in NEARFest which is held annually in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. This time the festival is scheduled on July 9th and 10th and the featured artists are: IQ, Le Orme, Present, Kenso, Steve Roach, Matthew Parmenter, Frogg Cafe, The Muffins, Wobbler... and Riverside (provided we manage to get our visas:))).
For more details, visit the official NEARFest site".

Source:

riverside.art.pl

"Things Buried" the debut solo album from Richard Barbieri is supposed to be released on December 6th and is now available to order online at The Burning Shed and richardbarbieri.net. The album will not be in record stores until next year. There should be information at the respective sites as to whether orders will be processed and delivered before Christmas. Atmospheric in places but more often dynamic and rhythmic, the album also features the distinctive performances of Percy Jones on fretless bass and Andy Gangadeen on drums. Total running time - 51 minutes. Richard will be playing tracks from the album when he supports Blackfield on their Eurpean tour and the cd will also be available at the merchandise stand.
More live solo shows expected early next year.

Source:	porcupinetree.com
Band profile:	Porcupine Tree

The Airut: saga continues with a new full length album! The saga that began with Tenhi's AIRUT:CIWI now stands on its own under the title Harmaa. The Harmaa band is based around the visions of Tyko Saarikko and Ilmari Issakainen.
The second part of Airut saga ? AIRUT:AAMUJEN ? was released through UTUstudio. All of its 9 tracks are piano driven compositions varying from romantic atmospheres to darker shades of nature.
For listening the songs, follow this link:
http://utustudio.com/harmaa.shtml#tracks

Source:

tenhi.com

On the website of the band were posted one full version of the track "Equilibrium" and three extracts from other tracks on the album.
Follow the link for hearing them:
http://www.tristania.com/main_pages/news/011204_2.htm

"The new album, Ashes, will contain 9 (8) tracks. The limited digipack release will contain one extra track not on the regular jewel case release.
The promo CDs were printed while the band was on tour, at the same time as the artwork was completed. Some confusion ensued, and the promo CD was printed with only 7 tracks. Thus - most reviews will list this as a 7 track release with a running time of 42 minutes, while the first releases will indeed be closer to 56 minutes in length (and still no fillers).
"Bird" is the closing track on both releases, most likely not listed in reviews and early advertisments".

Also, the band is planning a tour in Norway, for the first time.
"In early March 2005, Rikskonsertene will arrange a tour of Norway, featuring Tristania and Gothminister. Some 8-10 selected cities will be visited by the bands, with exact dates and venues to be published soon.
The band is very enthusiastic about the the planned tour, as this will be their first opportunity to perform around Norway. They've earlier only performed single gigs in Stavanger + Tau/Jørpeland, in addition to Kristiansand. They view this tour as an excellent opportunity to reach other parts of the country with their music".

Source:	tristania.com
Band profile:	Tristania

From the website of the band:
"We are happy to announce that the mixing process with the amazing Dan Swano is now complete. Dan worked many long days and nights to make sure we were 100% happy with the final product, offering several versions of each song. We could not be more pleased with this entire process. Dan is one of the hardest working people in metal, and he treated Novembers Doom as if it were one of his own projects. We have a great deal of respect for him, and our eternal gratitude for making this as perfect as it is. Swano fans won't be disappointed either, as there is a guest appearance on the CD from him.

The recordings will now be shipped to James Murphy (Death, Obituary, Testament) for mastering. With some of the great CD's we've heard James do, this should be an absolutely amazing sounding CD, and we're looking forward to everyone hearing it!

Artwork, a newly designed website, and some possible samples will all be revealed in the very near future!"

http://www.novembersdoom.com/

"Since a couple of days Peavy, Victor and Mike are on European tour again, celebrating their band anniversary together with their fans. Peavy writes a tour diary, which you will find at the "Live" section together with live photos from the shows. Every 3-4 days we will update the report".

Also, in the beginning of February 2005 Rage will play 2 concerts in Japan.
05.02.2005 J Osaka Club-Quattro
06.02.2005 J Tokyo Club-Quattro

For more info, check out their website:
http://www.rage-on.de/

Band profile:

Rage

FINNISH METAL EXPO - Helsinki, Kaapelitehdas, January 28-29.2005

- Finnish Metal Expo gathers consumers, musicians and businesses under the same roof
- Hilselinko seeks for the most interesting new metal talent in Finland
- International Metal Meeting is a professional event for the industry

Among the bands announced for live shows are the following:
Tarot
Sonata Arctica
Mnemic (DEN)
Finntroll
Machine Men
Total Devastation
Callisto
Godsplague
Pain Confessor
Purity
Hevein
The Scourger

For more info, visit the official page of the event:
http://www.fme.fi

Taken from Pain of Salvation website:

"For some time now the lyrics (the extended versions) of "BE" have been available here in the Kingdom. Now you will also find the source material (a long list of literature, links and other material), keywords, points of departure etc. You will also find a lengthy interview with Daniel and, for the first time available, the complete Animae narration as originally written for "BE". Check it out!"

You could find the complete background material on "BE" entering their homepage:
http://www.painofsalvation.com/

Band profile:

Pain Of Salvation